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Fish: Raindogs with Zippos

 A l b u m   D e t a i l s


Artist: Fish
Title: Raindogs with Zippos
Released: 1999.04.20
Label: Roadrunner Records
Time: 55:40
Producer(s): Elliott Ness
Appears with: Marillion
Category: Pop/Rock
Rating: ********.. (8/10)
Media type: CD
Purchase date:  1999
Price in €: 15,99
Web address: www.fishheadsclub.com











 S o n g s ,   T r a c k s


[1] Tumbledown - 5.52
[2] Mission Statement - 4.00
[3] Incomplete - 3.44
[4] Tilted Cross - 4.19
[5] FaithHealer - 5.01
[6] Rites of Passage - 7.42

Plague of Ghosts:
[7] (i) Old Haunts - 3.13
[8] (ii) Digging Deep - 6.49
[9] (iii) Chocolate Frogs - 4.04
[10] (iv) Waving At Stars - 3.12
[11] (v) Raingods Dancing - 4.16
[12] (vi) Wake-up Call (Make It Happen) - 3.32
 

 A r t i s t s ,   P e r s o n n e l


FISH (aka. Derek William Dick) - Vocals

STEVE WILSON - Guitar (Porcupine Tree. Co-writer/Producer on Sunsets on Empire)
ROBIN BOULT - Guitar (Big Big Sun, Fish 1989-1999, Howard Jones)
MICKEY SIMMONDS - Keyboards (Mike Oldfield, Camel, Fish 1989-1999)
DAVE STEWART - Trommer (Camel, Fish 1994-1999)
STEVE VANTSIS - Bass (Fish 1997-1999)
MARK DAGHORN - Keyboard (Positive Light)
TONY TURRELL - Keyboard (Positive Light)
ELISABETH ANTWI - Vocal (solo artist)

STEVE VANTISS - Bass
ROBIN BOULT - Guitars
TIL PAULMAN - Guitars
BRUCE WATSON - Guitars
PHIL GRIEVE - Guitars
DAVE HASWELL - Percussion
DAVEY CRICHTON - Strings, Fiddle, Violin
NICOLA KING - Backing Vocals
TONY KING - Backing Vocals
MERLIN - Backing Vocals
 

 C o m m e n t s ,   N o t e s


UK: RR8677-2
Eur: (Roadrunner) 498 6112
Promo: RR PROMO 386

Issued under licence from Derek W Dick to the All Blacks B.V. Raodrunner records is a registered trademark of the All Blacks B.V.



Ex-Marillion lead vocalist Fish has never had the following here in the US as he does elsewhere. Prog fans know who he is, but unfortunately, that's about it. On his latest effort, Fish takes his music yet another step forward, mixing crunchy guitar riffs with tender ballads, drum 'n bass, ambient soundscapes, and everything in between. This is one of those albums that require a few listens to really appreciate. It's not something that you're going to love the first time you hear it. However, after two or three listens, you just might. It's albums like this that tend to make more of a lasting impression. "Tumbledown" gets the disc off to a good start with its pensive piano intro, and then the vocals are ushered in with abstract power chords. "Mission Statement" has a real catchy riff on the chorus, and is the most commercial sounding track on the disc. But the real tour-de-force is the six-part "Plague of Ghosts." This ambitious 25-minute suite covers the entire musical spectrum and ranks among the best things Fish has written. Raingods With Zippos probably isn't going to win Fish any new fans (newbies should check out Fish's recent 'best of' CD, Kettle of Fish), but it's required listening for existing ones.

© 1999 Steve Marshall



Fish's latest release, Raingods With Zippos begins with a beautiful piano intro by Mickey Simmons, evoking, not surprisingly, rain. But then the storm kicks in with the meat of "Tumbledown." With an almost tongue twister of a chorus, "Tumbledown" is a poppy tune. And yes, that means that Fish is still in that borderline pop/prog region - but, I'll tell you, he really is more on this side of the line than that - where this is prog. No, not prog in the way his old band used to be long ago, or even in the way Fish was for his first solo. No, this is prog Fish style. Maybe more apparant on the closer of the album, of course. Yes, the songs aren't so far on this side of the line that the songs could make good singles. "Mission Statement" is a rocker that didn't grab me right away, seeming a bit awkward, the chorus seeming forced into a song. But it's a rollicking rocker, with Hammond giving it a Steve Winwood (in his Traffic days) kind of feel. The joint is jumpin', man. Then we get the Floyd-eque duet "Incomplete" that is this album's "Just Good Friends," though not nearly as effective. It's Floyd-esque because if you sing the lyrics to "Hey You" to it...well, almost,...anyway, its nearly the same arrangement. And then there are hints of "Fish tracks past" - I hear shades of "Cliche," and many other slow tempo Fish ballads. It's not a bad song, and the guest vocalist, Elisabeth Antwi, has a warm, husky voice that is quiet nice. My favourite track on this disk, however, is the Crosby, Stills and Nash like "Tilted Cross." This is a gentle and lyrical track, with a very sentimental view. It's simply beautiful. Backing vocals are provided by Nicola King, who has a high, light voice...but not wincingly. I can't really give a sounds like, because her voice is often just underneath Fish's. This should have been (if it wasn't) the single. The reworked "Faith Healer" is a toss up - sure it rocks hard, the guitars provided by Steve Wilson (Porcupine Tree) and Robin Boult, but I don't know if there really was a need to rework it. Overall, nothing new is brought to it. I can see that there will be those that keep hoping Fish will return to the territory he staked out with Marillion say, or with his first disk. But why should he? I tell you, what ever groove Fish is in now, with this album, is one I'm going to follow. "Rights of Passage" is another slow tempo song, and closes out with a keyboard and string duet that is more characteristic of better New Age releases (I'm thinking of David Lanz, actually; and say the same about the albums opening piano piece, too) than Fish. Not perfect, but nice.

The centerpiece of the album closes it out - the "Plague of Ghosts" suite. The second track in will make you think of Peter Gabriel, if you didn't already by reading its title. No, it's not really Fish's version of "Digging In The Dirt," though musically there is a similar groove, a little more pumped up. The whole suite itself is a musical journey, where here, Fish's narrative bits are wholly appropriate. The "Chocolate Frogs" section will take you into the jungle, deep deep into the jungle - okay, now I'm thinking of Conrad's The Heart of Darkness...hmm.... Odd percussion punctuates "Waving At Stars" - again giving the impression of rain - it sounds very techno (I now see the Wilson influence). There are some really great moments in this track - "Plague of Ghosts" - some beautiful and interesting passages throughout, though it isn't perfect. This is the part that will please Fish fans. I think Fish has a winner here, even if his record label doesn't see fit to promote it. Recommended.

Reviewed by: Stephanie Sollow, July 1999
www.progressiveworld.net - Your Ultimate Guide To Progressive Music



1999 saw ex-Marillion singer Fish release his Raingods With Zippos set following some protracted legal battles with former labels. Enlisting producer Elliot Ness, Fish also chose to inject some new blood and worked with several new musicians which gives the album a re-energized feel. As always, the writing is literate and expressive, concerning itself with matters of the spirit and the heart. "Tumbledown" leads the album off in fine style. What begins as a lovely piano ballad, suddenly becomes a stomping rock track with soaring guitar work from newcomer Steve Wilson. The ballads arrive in the form of "Incomplete, " a dreamy, acoustic duet with the throaty Elisabeth Antwai and mandolin, courtesy of Big Country's Bruce Watson, and "Tilted Cross." The latter is a harrowing account of the mayhem caused by landmines in Bosnia whose gentle tone almost betrays the song's content. The core of Raingods With Zippos is the twenty-five minute suite "Plague of Ghosts, " which consists of six songs beginning with the eerie "Old Haunts." The suite ranges from the percolating, chugging rhythms of "Digging Deep" to the lovely "Waving At the Stars, " whose programmed drums lend the cut an urgency. The suite peaks with the exquisite "Rain Gods Dancing, " with majestic guitar from Wilson skirting over a stunningly, beautiful piano-based melody. Fish has delivered an album sure to please old fans and capable of winning new converts with some of the most satisfying work of his career.

Tom Demalon, All-Music Guide


Raingods with Zippos ist das Album eines Künstlers, der seine Krise überwunden hat, den wirtschaftlichen Ruin gerade noch einmal vermeiden konnte, und zu sich selbst zurückgefunden hat. Im Haus von Stings Manager Miles Copeland erhielt Fish eine Art Zuflucht und fand sich, wie er selbst sagt, komponierend wieder. Mußten seine täglichen Gedanken bis dato um die geschäftliche Seite des Pop kreisen, so hatte er nun wieder Melodien und Texte im Kopf, die sich auf Raingods with Zippos eindrucksvoll wiederfinden. Fish hat sich und seine Musik erneut ein Stück weiterentwickelt, ist sich selbst aber gleichzeitig treu geblieben. Wenn er abrockt, dann richtig: Hört man seine Stimme beim Alex Harvey-Cover "Faith Healer" bleibt nur noch die Frage, warum er dieses für ihn scheinbar bestimmte Stück nicht schon längst aufgenommen hat. Ist er aber sanft und melancholisch, erzeugt er Gänsehaut; "Incomplete" ist nur einer der Beweise dafür. Raingods ist keine Sammlung radiokompatibler Verbrauchsmusik, denn seine musikalische Ausstrahlung wächst mit jedem Hören.

Wolfram Lumpe, Amazon.de



Als "Aggression auf einem höheren, subtileren Level" beschreibt Ex-Marillion-Sänger FISH sein neues Album "Raingods With Zippos", das zunächst wenig mit dem starken, aber allerseits ignorierten Vorgänger "Sunsets On Empire" verbindet. Statt harter Progrock-Nummern bietet uns FISH diesmal - wie schon auf seinem ersten Soloalbum "Vigil In A Wilderness Of Mirrors" - einen bunten Querschnitt durch seine musikalischen Vorlieben: Atmosphärischer Rock (´Tumbledown´) steht neben besinnlichen Tönen (´Tilted Cross´), Metallisches (´Faith Healer´, tierische Version!) neben melancholischen Klängen (´Incomplete´). Das Herzstück der Scheibe ist jedoch das 25minütige, in sechs Kapitel unterteilte Epos ´Plague Of Ghosts´, das den Bogen vom Marillion-artigen Progrock über düstere (an das göttliche ´Forgotten Sons´ erinnernde) Spoken-Word-Sequenzen, wie sie für FISH typisch sind, bis hin zu modernen Pop-Elementen spannt. Klasse!

© RockHard Götz Kühnemund - mehr unter RockHard (143)



The first Fish album since 1997 is indeed a very interesting piece of work. The album is well produced and there are new nuances around the corner every time you play this impressive-sounding album. On this album, there's something for everyone. From the folkrock in Tilted cross, to the heavy sounding tones in Faithhealer via the ballads Incomplete and Rites of passage to the ambient in Old haunts and Waving at stars. To that, we can add a lot of neo-progressive elements found in the epic Plague of Ghosts (especially in part 2, 3 and 5). And there's even some country-like slideguitar in Wake-up call which is the closing song on the album. I sincerely hope that it'll sell enough for him to go on, he deserves a success and some recognition after the years of silence. To conclude, I must say that this album in some parts reminds me of his Marilliondays, the quality is there alright. Imho, there are now three soloalbums from Fish that are on the same level, this is one of them. Some minor flaws (Rites of Passage and in some parts of Tilted Cross) prevent the fifth star.
  

 L y r i c s


Tumbledown

It's just a matter of time a figure of speech that springs to mind throughout the day
As the minutes go by, a second thought, a moment lost, time ticks away
and everything changes, forever never lasts, no such thing as always,it's all too soon the past.

Tumbledown, tumbledown, tumble, tumble, tumbledown.
Tumbledown, tumbledown, tumble, tumble, tumbledown.

Raingods with Zippos, a tin man with a heart
an end with no beginning, a race without a start
that you'll never win, that you cannot lose and you fall apart.

Tumbledown, tumbledown, tumble, tumble, tumbledown.
Tumbledown, tumbledown, tumble, tumble, tumbledown.

The Tarot declares a motion made a finger traps an empty glass.

The needles begin to make their mark, you try to hide, you're leaving tracks,

I dream of fire and water, dream of deserts, dream up plans,
like mountains and castles they're only grains of sand that

Tumbledown, tumbledown, tumble, tumble, tumbledown,
Tumbledown, tumbledown, tumble, tumble, tumbledown.

Raingods with Zippos, a tin man's bleeding heart,
an end with no beginning, a race without a start
that you'll never win, that you cannot lose and you fall apart.

And Tumbledown, tumbledown, tumble, tumble, tumbledown.
Tumbledown, tumbledown, tumble, tumble, tumbledown.


Mission Statement

I punched the clock in at 35, I thank the Lord that I'm still alive, sometimes I
find it hard to believe that my hearts still beating that I'm still on my feet,
I'm gonna give you, gonna give you a mission statement.

I've been in a downward spiral for a very long, long time, I've been stepping
over dollars just to pick up a shiny dime,
The way I see it, it ain't gonna work, I'm kissing the past goodbye,
I'm gonna give you, gonna give you a mission statement,

I got no more patience, got no more time,
I'm tired of following orders, sticking to the company line,

I want to change the world and I'm starting with myself,
a private revalation concerning everybody else,
we're all just lonely people we're all looking for some help,
too busy crunching numbers and fighting for ourselves,
all it takes is kindness and a little love and care,
and this planet that we live on can be a Heaven we can share, a mission statement.

The tears of hungry children are falling in the dust,
the scraps of a rich man's table could fill their starving mouths,
while some they thirst for water others get drunk on wine,
to some their lives a prison and they're out there doing time,
I'm gonna give you, give you a mission statement,

I got no more patience, I got no more time,
I'm tired of following orders, sticking to the company line

I want to change the world and I'm starting with myself,
a private revalation concerning everybody else,
we're all just lonely people we're all looking for some help,
too busy crunching numbers and fighting for ourselves,
all it takes is kindness and a little love and care,
and this planet that we live on can be a Heaven we can share, a mission statement.


Incomplete

We got 140 stations on satellite beaming on down to our home - but I'm watching you,
I've got half a million bills to pay, you never hear a word I say - I dream of you,

Oh I feel so incomplete, Oh, Oh, it seems so incomplete,
If we could only close the distance,
If we could only cross these lines,
If we could only fill the space that's grown between us over time,

You don't hear me anymore, you don't touch me anymore, you don't know me anymore.

There's a wedding dress in a suitcase full of memories in the attic - I think of you,
Where the ghosts of Summer butterflies they gather in the dust - I long for you,

Oh I feel so incomplete, Oh, Oh it seems so incomplete,
If we could only bring those days back when there were never wounds to heal,
when everything was perfect and the dream we had was real,

You don't hear me anymore, you don't touch me anymore, you don't know me anymore.

Oh I feel so incomplete, Oh, Oh it seems so incomplete,
When there were never any questions over who or what we were,
and the future only promised all the answers to our prayers

You don't hear me anymore, you don't touch me anymore, you don't know me anymore


Tilted Cross

There's a message that's been left in the long grass by a stranger who's passed this way before,
planted seed from which we reap a bitter harvest from his long forgotten war,

I left my love in a grave and I marked it with a cross that will stand so straight and true,
it's not alone in the shade of the valley, they're what remains of the ones we once knew,

Walk with me my child but tread softly on this earth,
keep a close eye where your feet they touch the ground,
Watch out for the signs and heed what they say,
One false step and all is lost,
in the land of the tilted cross.

They lie beneath the needles of the forest, in the fields where only shadows dare to play,
washed down from the slopes of the mountains in the Spring when the snow melts away,

So be sure when you go on your journey, carry sticks, mark the place where they are found,
make a cross and be sure that it's tilted so that others don't step on this ground.

Walk with me my child but tread softly on this earth,
keep a close eye where your feet they touch the ground,
Watch out for the signs and heed what they say,
One false step and all is lost,
in the land of the tilted cross.

I left my love in a grave and I marked it with a cross that stands so straight and true. 


Faith Healer

If your body's feeling bad
It's the only one you have
You want to take away the pain
Just go out walking in the rain
You watch the flowers go to bed
Just ask the man inside your head
Your spirit never has to grieve
All you've got to do is believe
The faith healer
The faith healer
All you've gotta do is feel
Your body's gonna start to heal
The finger tips of holy fire
Ever lasting sweet desire
It never mattered what the doctor said
The healer man will sail away
It's immortality for two
Oh the miricles they will come to you
From faith healer
The faith healer
Can I put my hands on you
Can I put my hands on you
The faith healer
The faith healer
Faith and hope and charity
The simple relativity
He can make you understand
All you've gotta do, you've gotta take his hand
The finger tips of holy fire
Ever lasting sweet desire
It never mattered what the doctor said
Listen to the man inside your head
The faith healer
The faith healer
Can I put my hands on you
Can I put my hands on you
Let me put my hands on you
Let me put my hands on you
Can I put my hands on you
Can I put my hands on you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you
The faith healer
The faith healer
The faith healer


Rites of Passage

With this right of passage, cruel twist of fate, with every turn of every card I never see,
until it's too late, the deed is done and leaves me wondering just where our love has gone
I cannot say in honest truth that I still trust all my feelings for you.

You knew that it was wrong,
You think that saying sorry is gonna make it seem alright,
Maybe in this song you will hear me for the first time
and you'll start to see the light.

Living with you is like being parked on double yellow lines waiting to be towed away,
I'll pay the fines and I'll be back, but I'm running out of reasons to stay.

You knew that it was wrong,
You think that saying sorry is gonna make it seem alright,
Maybe in this song you will hear me for the first time
and you'll start to see the light.

You knew that it was wrong,
You think that saying sorry is gonna make it seem alright,
Maybe in this song you will hear me for the first time
and you'll start to see the light

With this right of passage I reclaim my heart,
I take my leave, as if on cue, I play no further part
in your self-penned dramas,
where each stolen kiss
just goes to prove that happy endings don't exist.


Plague of Ghosts

Plague of Ghosts/Chocolate Frogs/ Wishing on Stars/Raingods
Dancing including subsections written by Derek W Dick/Tony Turrell and Mark Daghorn
1998 copyright Fishy Music Ltd 

(i) Old Haunts

I found a home in the darkness, found a home in the darkness, found a home in the darkness,
Empty stomach empty head a body fills a vacant bed,
and the thunder rolls by, and the rains come, and the days gone and I wonder where I am.

Found a place in the darkness, found a home in the darkness, in the darkness, home, in the darkness.

A crowded room of passers by and in the shadows strangers cry, and the ghosts try to hide,
when the rains come, when the storms form, when I wonder who I am in the darkness,
Home.

(ii) Digging Deep.

Digging deep in the darkness, digging it deep down deep down deep down digging it
Deep in the darkness, digging it deep, down deep, down, deep down digging it
Deep in the darkness, digging it deep, down, down, down, down, digging it
Deep in the darkness, digging it down, deep down, deep, down deep digging it

We watched an insect stray to the edge of it's world, a lily pad stretched over a green mirror
in which the ghost carp swirl like clouds before a storm.
This is the season of the rains,
This is incoming.

And when it came their was no cover, no place to hide,
vision blurred, hard to breathe, trying hard to hold onto something that's real.
Nothing left, nowhere to go, no open road it's washed away by swollen streams,
carried off downriver with all my broken dreams.

Digging deep in the darkness, digging it deep, down deep down deep, deep, digging it
Deep in the darkness, digging it deep down, down, down, down digging it
Deep in the darkness, digging it deep, digging it digging it, digging it,
Deep in the darkness, digging it deep down, deep down, deep down, digging it.

A tethered goat bleats from the corner of the graveyard where the lizards hang motionless as the
angels of stone above them, their broken wings throwing long shadows into the grass where the scorpions hide.
The tigers are running out of jungle.

In the end I was tired of being asked if I could say that I was Happy Now,
as if you need me to convince you that everything's OK.
Would you take me back?

Digging deep in the darkness, digging it deep, down deep, down deep, deep digging it
Deep in the darkness, digging it deep, down, down, down, down, down, digging it,
Deep in the darkness, digging it deep, deep down, deep, deep, digging it,
Deep in the darkness, down, down, down, down, down, down digging it.

Are you happy now? You keep asking, asking am I happy now?
Why can't you tell me that I'm happy now? Are you happy now?
Happy now? Happy now?

(iii) Chocolate Frogs

The bloated corpses of unsolved murders and old revolutions, pirouette and dance amongst the swirls
and eddies in their final procession down the muddy river to the delta where they're thrown up by
the surf onto sterile beaches or are trapped in the roots of mangrove cathedrals of the islands
that gather in the bay.

These are the first arrivals on this new horizon that will be coveted by strangers who will deposit
themselves on these shores to build towers to the heavens. The storm will come and the rains will
fall and remove their dreams and hopes once again to the waters that surround them. And while they
pray the frogs will chant in the darkness

A heid full of chocolate frogs, a body full of rush, a pocketful of shrapnel and a skinfull of bush,
an eyefull of the future and a belly full of the past, how beautiful the present when you know it cannae last.

A tumblerful of voddie, two fingers in a glass, a handful of promises, a heart full of remorse,
mindful of your manners when you're brought down to your knees,
a heid full of chocolate frogs is all you gave to me,
That's all you gave to me, that's all you gave to me,

A spoonful of miracles a nostril full of dust a lung full of Virginia the needs we have we must,
a pill to put your heart right a nose out for a deal for a heid full of chocolate frogs what can you give to me?
What did you give to me?
What did you give to me?
What did you give to me?

(iv) Waving At Stars

You cracked up too soon before the punchline hit home and at the end of the joke did you notice that no-one was
laughing with you.
You were out on your own,
Waving at trains, waving at cars, waving from bars, waving from aeroplanes,
might as well be waving at stars,

You called out her name as the darkness hit home, raised up your Zippo and opened the skies till the crowd
melts away, at the end of the day, you ran out of light,
Praying for rain, praying for signs, praying for time, praying for endless night, might as well be wishing on stars

(v) Raingods Dancing

Empty churches, empty pews, in the subway nothing moves and the static on the radio is drowning out
the sound of Raingod's dancing,
Empty playgrounds, empty bars, I can't remember how it was before the flood when all I had to do was
recognise the love that's trapped inside.

I gave it all, I took it back and in the end there's nothing left except a shell surrounding emptiness
and loneliness, a core of pain,
I see my pathway shining.

Raingods with Zippo's, a tinman hides a broken heart,
Raingods with Zippo's, he knows the flame has gone that soon he'll fall apart,

So I lay me down to lie and with the rain my lullaby I drift away to dreamless sleep, leave behind
a life that died, a victim of a Plague of Ghosts
I was wrapped up in my guilt buried deep within my memories, a shelter of self-pity that I know the
rain will wash away, I sense the storm arriving.

Raingods with Zippo's, a tin man rusts away and slowly falls apart,
Raingods with Zippo's and all he leaves behind a bleeding broken heart.

(vi) The Wake -Up Call (Make It Happen)

In the end I found beginnings, not a vision, a wake up call,
raised from the dead by a beating heart and at last I can see it all
and my eyes were opened to the darkness, in my hand a burning flame,
a spark of life to touch the fuse and blow these clouds away,
I can make it happen, if I want to,
Make it happen, if I try,
Forgive, forget, forever never means as much as it does today,
make it happen, we can make it happen, we can make it happen.

When I wake up, will you be there? It can never be the same.
If we can take our lives slowly, step by step, we can be dancing in the rain,
We can make it happen, we can make it happen, make it happen,
forgive, forget, forever means today, make it happen, we can make it happen,
We can make it happen, forgive, forget, forever means today,
Make it happen.

 M P 3   S a m p l e s


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